This year, Unitech showed a significant increase in the demand for automotive advanced driver-assistance systems (ADAS) with revenue hitting a new high in August and September, achieving a revenue of NT$4.419 billion in the third quarter. Unitech is expected to show a turn from loss to profit this year and achieve a net profit per share next year of 2.3 times that this year. In addition, with a capacity utilization of 100%, Unitech is expected to achieve a gross margin of 13.47% in the third quarter, roughly offsetting the loss in the first half of 2017. Revenue of NT$4.905 billion is estimated in the fourth quarter, with a gross margin of 14.79%. As Unitech is expected to show a turn from loss to profit, the net profit after tax is estimated to be NT$126 million this year. Revenue in 2018 is estimated to be NT$17.9 billion with a net profit after tax of NT$414 million, an annual increase of 2.3 times.

In the first half of 2017 Unitech achieved revenue of NT$7.588 billion with a gross margin of 8.6% and a loss after tax of NT$206 million. Economic growth in the fourth quarter is expected to increase Unitech’s profitability. In the third quarter, high frequency boards, rigid-flex boards, anylayer boards, HDI boards, and traditional boards accounted for 13%, 30%, 15%, 30%, and 12% respectively. In terms of applications, smart devices, automotive boards, tablets and NB, and others accounted for 50%, 30%, 10%, and 10% respectively. In addition, Unitech invested NT$2 billion in equipment expansion, mainly for rigid-flex boards, to meet customers’ requirements for product specifications and has received significant benefits in the second half of 2017. Capacity is estimated to be increased by 15% next year. The capital expenditure of NT$1-1.5 billion is also forecast for next year.     

In the third quarter, automotive boards accounted for 30% of Unitech’s revenue. Unitech indicated that revenue of automotive boards will remain at this percentage and that traditional PCBs will be gradually phased out to focus on the production of rigid-flex boards and anylayer boards with high margins. Compared with the focus on rigid-flex boards in 2017, the focus in 2018 will be anylayer boards. Lee, Li-Chun pointed out that anylayer boards have been gradually applied to NBs, including Apple’s, to make more space for batteries that improve use and standby time. This will become an important trend in NB boards in the future.

As of today, PCBs installed in automotive ADAS are high-frequency and high-speed. Unitech was one of the first to develop such PCBs, and is currently one of the world’s top three ADAS PCB manufacturers. With the popularity of ADAS, Unitech has upgraded ADAS from an optional specification to a standard specification. (Source: cnYES)